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By ti^Uey.DAJID INGLIS, MA0NAB-3TRKET PRESnYTEUIAN €nuRClI, HAMILTON, C.W. *^ ■■'>*//.< HAMILTON: PuBuaiiED BY D.'McLellan, Booksbller, Kiko Strkbt. 1861. ^ 'U-^' .a-> \ - / Non.— The two flrit of these Sermon* were preached in the McNab Street Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, O.W., on Sabbath, December 16tb, 1800, the day appointed by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, to commemorate the Reformattoli In Scotland. The other Sermon was preached in the same Church, on Thanliagiting Day, DecemlHr Cth, 1S60, They are now printed at the request of some of those who heard them. /. f Ar /■ UNirCDCHUFfeH • ARCHIVES THB HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. . \ ■^m»^ PiALM txxvlll, fl-7, " For he ei»lttl)ll»hfw tluim. cvt-ii llio chllilrcn which shnulil be bom, wlio sboulil arlso ami (Un:lnr« tbi^m to Iholr chllilrcn, tliitl tht«y mlsht Ml th«lr hop« In Uod, ami not forKL't the wurk» of Hoil, but kui'p hl'it cotnmanUincnt*.'' - A groat event should have a (htathleas memor>'. Churches and nations are often exhorted, in- reference to great public blessitiRa, to see to it, that the nieinorinlH thereof are not allowed to perish] )rhat ati who eventually ahiii-e in tiie advantages thereof may render praise unto thQ Lord, A larpo portion of God's wofd is historical, and beside this warrant, we have here the expfesafrequirement pf the Bible to cheri^b and perpetuate the- knowledge of God's ancient dealings with the people— the obligation of the church to keep green and fresh the memory of remarkable events, and to transmit thiM knowledge to the latest generation. The act of our church, in instructing her ministers on this I^ord'sday^ toj^^ct the attention of her people to the facts and principles of t^HKf formation, has the sanction of divine example «tid the force of fivine authority, Right it Js, that we should commemorate such event!*, and speak of thein to our children ; that these days fail not from among us, nor the memorial of them perish from our seed. Having respect, then, to the special object of our services this day, let die ask you to consider the history of the'Reformatioo in Scotland,and the great essential doctrines ^of the gospel, as these were then brought to light ] fi^r^mising, thai only the leading^litiitures and gfeat outlines can be brought into view, syithin the liiqits of the two discourci^s of this day. * ' ^^ .^_ At the period when Christianity was first introduced into the British Isles, the twilightof legend and" tradition still lingers over Scotland ; the gigantic forms of the old Druids flit about amid the shadows of the n<»rthren mountains ; and it is not for some centu- ries after the Christian era that our native land emerges into the sober daylight of history. This much remains to us out of the legends of these olden timep, that Christianity was ihtroduced into Britain, and had extended to its northerii boundaries, at a very early period; and that five hundred years from the Apostolioage, it had taken firm loot and Was widely spread over the various independent States or Kingdoms into which the island was theti divided. <» :0 ciUj^^OH -^^ m ■it of hH boHt,r I»„d o In^tory b«twc«r. th« <.M I )n;idir,n uf Britain in J what are m l.,.| thau-hlle A^ch, when popory and tho f.n.lal HyMt,.n With all the.r various <-ivil and Hu<.ial 4.nu.ntH, had t«k«« fruitf.il only m .lisoi.h.r, ari.i wrHchednrss, and dt-ath Y.'t it ,chov«HUH t''^'./*'t ever bursting forth in cou„f|..„. work. Of holiness, order, mercy, and freKlorn. Wo cannot now^dwHI on tho historv <.f ihM'nIdooH, though that H .h ' I? "!.'/. "'^"•^':.'i"«' .''- ««rving to show that anu.ng th. Highlands and iHlands of Hootland, a, w.ll as an.ong th. Alps of alLTll an""-' ''r "'?"" -'••'-"'^ ^■'•••'^t-a frcS and scr'iptu ral fflith, and a simple and apo^fohral form of worship and..f dlnci- ^ -^«,found aaocurorefugo. Thn darkt^t p.-riod in Sn.tti.h Church riislory wasfr<,m thuyoar 1207, whcM. till. C.ilde.s of S, Andr -ws were mippressed by tho usurpations of Uom., to t... inariyrd<,n of Patrick lUm.lton, in 1528; but tl... scattored remnants of this time ..f the Lollards; ho that th« light was not ..vtinguished down to the very dawn of that Reformation, whos. history it in ouT" this morning, with grateful hearts to r.,nall. '« ours, llio superstition of Kon,e grew indeed but slowly to its full height Century after century added so„,e stones i^ ,ha fdoa trous temp e wherein was maintained ihat worship whie IwrJin on y ch|iractorise as a gloomy parody of the true re i-non 70^ IS' ?;T^ "-^ ^'"''""'^' 'P^'"'- '^'^'^ R»'f'>r.natio; nothingVe malnedof (hrist.anity save the n«me_« darkness ■overed'^the l.ind and ^ross darkness the people." Tyranny on the par^ (^ he rulers, and general ignr.rance on the part of the pe.'ple nv ved •the civjlins itutions of the cunrry in all the evils of f^u a lism ' religion. The great doetrmes of the gospel were unknown and the most absurd and degrading supe^st/tions we ta rght un der the pretended authority of (*..d. The worship of innMnferaWe saints, with the most wretched mummeries and observance wn'rA nT«'^*^^'"'"5 ^""T' »>^'twoon man and God The word of God was denied to the people. The service in the churches were conducted in a forJign^ongUe The neon e were borne down by the domination and exaction V.f the Si hood. The priests themselves Were ighorant. idle, and icenE and^alike the civ 1 and eeclesinsrieal anthnritie^, Co'mbrned aid "et themselves o rnaintain this monstrous system of supersHtfon by Closing up all the avenues of truth whicimight have bought £ ,v UNI fir; ',' j;hcrl OHO to Hp^ak n <»f Britain I iho fvu(U\\ , had taktii) xlftn raCM, V Imrrt'ii or th. Yet it oiH' irulim- aiid fruin flt'H-i works h(.uf,'h that luiioiig tht^ h«' Aljw of tid Huriptu- ndof dinci-" :i.>h ('hiirch t. AndrewH futriyrdorn rits of this d on to the shed down it JH ours, to its full that idola- ch wc win ). To the lothiiig re- V(!n'd the »artofthe , involved 'udalism ; name of town and aught un- Miiierable iTvancps, i- The I'rviee in le pnople •' pri est- eem loun; 1 and set if ion, by 'Ughtits ftbominations to light, punishing with iinprisonincnt and death every declaration of the "pure, miluUiry and sublinin doctrines of the Bible." ^ YetSmtlnnd w^snot altogether miprepared for the Uefonnation. Thn war V rational indepeiidenoe against the Kdwardw had (level. op«d th»f Si-Wiinent ;<)f natiimality and the love of liberty in the minds of th«*Y«"|>'«'- liOarning had revived under llcetor Boyef, the fellow-Htudent and correspondent of ErasmUH, and the well- known p^ineipal (jf King'N College', Aberdeen. The tratts of Luther, spite of Acts o( Piuiiametit to the e(jiitrary,made their way - thi-ough the Scotti.sh seaports, an.l.every where found sympathizing readers. Th»i Testaments of William tindulo were in the hands «r| many. Some bolder s(»irits were already denouncing the vices of the clergy and demanding church ns/JorinN. The Spirit of (Jod was at work in men's hearts, and it needed only the living voice of the preacher bf the gOM|)el to kindle that spark'inio a llainc. Such a man was soon raised npni Patrick Ilatniltoii.theproto-preacherand proto- martyr of tfie Scottish Heformu^(.n. lie was ofnoble descent and on his mother's side of royal lineage, VVc fnid him (irst of all a student at Paris, and that at a tiiric when the doctrfnes both of Krasniuf and of I.uther were keenly dispuu-d, in lh,it great schou!. Flo returned to Scotland in 152:$ u confirmed disciple of Krasmus • Mvenext (ind hiiit at St. Andrew's, and though only twenty-two years of age,with brave heroic Spirit, he threw down the gauntlet to priest and prelate, in repeated attacks upon 'their cherished Aristotellian philosophy and scokstic tboology, while he ruthlessly exposed their licentious ''ve8;Jffl»iGar kindred to dukes and carls rendering his personal influen^lP more formidable. Hut though an earnest dis- ciple of Erasmus, ho was notyet a disciple of Christ. A storm was now gathering about him, and to avoid that storm he again left his native land, and repaired first of all to W ittenburg, where for a time he sat at the feet of Luther ond Meliincthoju. Thence he went to Marburgh, where he studied under the pioite Und learned Francis Lambert ; here he soon became distinguisfhcd W learning arfd for clear and solid judgment in the mterpretalion of Scripture, as well as for the rare ability and earnestness of feeling with which ho inrparted the treasures he had stored up, and defended the truths which ^vere so precious to his own soul. Only six months have passed Kince he had left Scotland to avoid the storm that was coming upon hirn ; during these months he has drunk deeply of the living waters, and now the irresistible impulse is upon him to return to his own benighted land,1and preach the gospel to his countrymen. Soon after his return, though, a priest and abbot be took the decisive step of marry injr a young lady of noble rank, and thus forever breaking with the Roman power. With a spirit deeply moVcd he began to preach the gospel, " denouncing the corruptions of the church with the unambitioua . •oltmnlty of a mnir thoroughly In carnedt.Rnd ot thn lame time with ff'*^«jj"'l l«>'ly ii»Tlnuiiiii'iiH,ilHivoriiig th««Kr«nt truih« of tho go«pol, and ofian kindling into the n»le words were, " How long, Lord, how long shall darkness cover this rearfn ? How long wdt thou suffer this tyranny (y( men*? Lord Jesus receive my spirit. Thua, in front of the gote of th^j old college of St. Andrews on tho 20th of February, 1528, Patrick Ilnmilton gl >riou8ly died. He/ died not in vain. His fiery martyrdon. g »V6 hirn a place in the nation's heart for ever. Little the enemies of Ood 8 truth thonuht, how great a fire that pile was to kindle. When tho Archbwliop next 8|)oke of burning heretics, said 4 *'entleman of his cr)mpuny, "Gif yo burn tnair htrotics, let them ie burnt in low cellars, fm the reek of Muister Patrick Hamilton has mfected as many as it did blaw upon." The period in Scottish history to which wo are now adverting was a stormy one, but through it all a succession o^ witnesses was raned up to bear testimony to the truth ; the centra, ligure in the group belnc the co.uragcmis, and right noble George Wishart • a man, says John Knox, " of sic graces ss before him were never heard m.this realm, yea, and never to bo found yet in any man • a man, Mngularly learned, as well in Godly knowledge, as in all honest human science." Your time will not permit me to tell his brief but bf-autiful at^ry ; his early life in tho romantic glen of J^oredoun; his education at Kin^j's (N)lleBe, Aberdeen ; his associa- tion with .rohn Ersklne, of Dun, in the promotion of Greek learn- "•g in Scotland ; th^ citation to answer to the bishop of Brechin, for the heresy of teaching the Greek Testament, ond his consequent withdrawal mto England— a zealous Grecian, yet not counting it his duty to suffer. martyrdom for that; his association with Latimer ; his trial for heresy, at Bristol ; his return to Scotland with the Scottish Ambassadors, to the English court, in 1543 ; his preach- ing in Dundee and Ayrshire; his fearless heroism and gentleness ^hile the plague raged in Dundee ; his tour through the Lothians ; his apprehension, trial and martyrdom. Through it all' we see a ■-■■ ^ .■■•, . ■• •- ^ ^« time with ' tho goapol, ml uiitri'aty '(1 him to a ill), but ho I faith, and I to dcolaro iversity he itory of hit DMion, and » lh« Arch. i«t, hu vfan •j^o, moved lented him jre, " How hi ? How ^^un receive ll'RO of St. Hamilton mrtyrdon. hec>ti«inioa to kindle. OS, .Haid ^ , lut them Hamilton adverting les^sus wasi ure in the 'i shaft ; a ero never y man ; a as in all to tell his ic glen of is assooia- eek lenrn- f Brechin, :)n8equcnt mnting it Lntimer ; with the is preach- ;entleness LiOthians ; we see a chartoter of ifngulAr interipftt, ot gentle, winning, and onMiumtng diapo»ltloii, yet brave ai a lion in the hour of nri'd, with en intnniii* ■pirit of devotion, a wild tinge of enthu»ia»in, and a commanding eloquence. , I We cannot refrain from quoting some tentcncea from John Knox's account of his uinrtyrdom. *' Aflcr this he wan led t«> the ftre with a rope about his tieck and n chain of Iron about hla middle. When that he came to tho flrn he knelt dirit Into thy holy hands.' Then ho tt^rniMl him to the penpls^d said these words, ' 1 beseech you christian brethren and siHturs, that ye bo not oifended at the word of God, fijr the niHiction and torments which you see al ready, ^pl'epa red for me. liut 1 exhort you that you love the word, oi God — your salvation, and sufFor [>atiently and with a comfortable heart, (or the word's sake, which s your undoubted salvation and everlasting comfort. For the word's sake and true evangel which was given unto nio by the grace of Ood, and 1 suflfer this day by men, not sorrowfully, but with a glad heart and mind. For this cause was I sent, that 1 should suiFer this fire for Christ's sake. Consider ond behold my vitoge, yo shall not sec me change rjiy colour ; this grim fire i fear not, and so I proy you to dt>, if that any persecution come unto you for the word's »ake, and not to fear them that »ky_ the body, and afterward^ havo no power to slay the soul. Some have said of me, that I taught tho soul of man ikall sleep until tho last day, but I know surely, and my faith is such, that my soul shall sup this night with my Saviour, ere it be six hours, ^)r whom I suffer this.' Then ho prayed for them which accused him. Many falthtul words said ho in the mean time, taking no heed or care of tho cruel torments which were then prepared for him. Then in token of his forgiveness he kissed tho executioner, saying, ' my heart do thine office.' Then by and by he was put Upon the gibbut, prayed, sfrid there burned to powder. When that tho people beheld the greot tormenting of the innocent, they might not with- hold from piteous murmuring and complaining of that innocent lamb's slaughter. After the dea(h of this blessed martyr of God, began the people, in plain spoaking, to condemn and devest the cruelty Chat was iised, yea, meitof great birth, honor, anoestima- tion, at open tables avowed that the blood of Mr. George should be avenged, or else they should lose life for life." From the time that WishartcametoLothian,there appeared beside him, wherever he went, a man of forty years of age, with a "two- handed sword," rejoicing in the post of dang(>r, and.|^indling into ardour beneath the burning words of the zealous preacher. Wishart, with a strong presentiment of his approaching doom, dis- missed his friend just before he was arrested by the earl of Bothwe}l» I ■ u; /; . \. aayiog in answer to his request to share his f(ite, "pray return to your bairns (pupils) and God help you ; oie is sufficient for a Jacijifice. ^In that very city where Wishart di^d, and oqly a short time after his martyrdom this man publicly denounced the errors of /popery with a trumpet blast of eloquence, which hpd never before sounded in Scotland, and which made the bulwarks of antichrist shake to their foundation. I need hardly say that that mAn was John Knox. It was not a burst of youthful frenzy It wis not the utterance of an ambitious and turbulent ' partizan. member he^ was now forty years of age-from youth to man, h6od he had cherished the sentiments which he now uttered— with patient matlTrity he had formed his opinions and now when clearly cAlled of Qod to speak out, he did so with singular decision and cbmpl^eness of view. It was no rash or hasty determination. T Y'^ Ll ?f 'l^^'^te purpose of a man devoting himself to God fnd to /the highest interests of his country. Through life he never Faverjid in this purpose, but trod the path of rectitude through ^e^siyerest trials with a step firm, resolute, and determined. )t hijj first sermDn m the rastle of St. Andrew's, in 1547 it was observed bygone who heard him, "others hewed th6 branches of fopery,vbut he strikes at the root to destroy the whole." But these 'ere troublous times, and soon after this the castle of St. Andrew's irrended and Knox shared the fate of th6 garrison. For nine- sen months he, with others, the prisoner^ of the Lord, wrought » a prisoner in the French galleys. The next five years were spent u Jingland, in immediate contact with Cranmer, probably with ".atimer. On the accession of the bloody Mary to the throne. Knox 'as driven from the realm of England,and we find him at various •laces on the continent a fellow-labourer and beloved friend of ilvin and %za and other Reformers. In 1555, he returned to Scotland : it was only a brief visit et not without leaving its impress on the progress of the Refor- lation ; and we next find him settled at Geneva as the pastor of « English congregation there. In May, 1559, Knox returned to Scotland to fight the battle out, A crisis was at hand— a leader ras needed— and his was the stout heart and the strong arm that through the succeeding years of conflict bore aloft the banner of JCeforin, and^ bore it on to victory. The Queen Regent, aided by French troops, was now in open conflict with the J rot^tant party— she determined to exterminate them by force— t ley determined to dtjfend their rights and liberties to the death In the historical details it is not our present business to enlarge ^J une, 1560, the Queen Regent died ; a few weeks thereafter the J? rencb troops were withdrawn. A free Parliament met in August. im, before which were laid the Protestant testimony and confes- won, remi^rkable for the fulness and clearness with which they lay ' d|>wn the great articles of the C!hristiatt faith, which were adopted :-^^ With only two dissfiiiiing votes. Thift was fbUowed by a deH^ls 6f important iots,all tending to theestablishment of the Keformktiph in Scotland. * The first 'National or General Assembly, met .on the •'20th of December, 1560, but its action was limited to two measures — ^the distribution of ministers and the appointment 4( superintendentis. In a series of Assemblies, from 1560 to 1567^ the great features of the Presbyterian government were fully developed. The Straggle was not yet ended* There was a combination of popish powers to put down Protestants, and at the head of the popish party in Scotland was Queen Mary. We cannot now speak of Knox s relations to the beautiful Queen. SuffigB it tdsay, that he never wavered in his ad- herence to the King o^^ngs. Let men with more sentiment than sense plead for the Queen iji her tearful, beautiful weakness— no man can read" the history of the period aright and fail to see that the Scottish Reformer stood up tor God and the right, well nigh alone, in the contest. Mary afterwards fell into dark misfortune, but for the present it is the hero, single handed, against court and courtiers j and nobly did he stand the brunt of the battle. These latter years of his life are full of power and pathos ; but we hav^ only time to tiotice the calm and peaceful end of this longJiflil battle. On the 24th of November, 1572, his wife, with hist faith ful servant, sat beside his bed reading the Bible. Th(^ chapter she had read was 1 St Cor. XV. Said the dying Reformer, *' Is not that a beautiful chapter ?-^-^What sweet consolation the tiord hath given me." " Later," he said, "Read where T first cast anchor," and she read John's gospel, chap. xvii. He fell into a trance about the time of evening prayer, and when asked if he bad heard their prayers, he answered, " Would to God that you and all men had heard them as I have heard them. I praise ^od for that heavenly sound." About eleven o'clock, he sai4» "Now it is come." Then Richard Bannatyne, his faithful serviint, said, "Now, sir, the time tKiit you have long called for — to wit the end of your battle, is come, and seeing all natural power fails, reinember the comfortable promise which ofl time ye have shewn to us of our Saviour Christ, and that we may understand that ye know and hear us, make us some sign." With that he lifted up his hands, and inoontin'ent thereafter, rendered up the spirit, and slept away with- out any pain. They biiried him in St. Giles' church yard, and Regent Morton pronounced over him the well-known words — "there lies he who nc^Xer feared the face of man.'? / We have thus sought to sketch the great figures which stand out R<» sharply and clearly at the illuminated portals of that •«(««; tm in the natural and spiritual life of Scotland and the world, which we thuis gi'atefully celebrate; surely this deliverance ougbt >>»— ^" I ,^ ■ ■■''■ * , ' ' . * to be remembered with gratitude to God. Of the doctrines of the Reformation and its results, I purpose to speak to you in the evening. ]^(either is it my purpose now to vindicate the character of our Reformers. It has been fashionable to disparage them, especially in literary circles, for nothing could ever shake the confidence of the great body of the Scottish people in these men whose achieve- ments were recorded as or/ the very tablets of their hearts^ whose memories were emTjalmed in the gratitude of their country. But the time for such disparagement has gone, and the historical vin- dication of their charflcters has only tended to make them dearer than ever to all who love their God, their country and their race. We unhesitatingly affirm of the Reformation, that since the pub- v lication of Chrijstianity no event has taken place so fruitful in great and good results. It should be hailed as a blessing of the highest order, celebrated with devout gratitude and sacredly preserved. it has been objected to our great Reformer that he was rude of speech. Well the times in which he lived, the circumstances under which he spoke, were not such as to be fruitful in courtly and complimentary phrases. He spoke to Queen Mary/with groat plainness of speech, as it behoved the ambassador off the King of Kings, but it was ever in behalf of the public weal and her own best interests. He reprobated in no measured terms the publii conduct of the nobles, but their conduct deserved such reprobation ; . and if it be urged that he denied full religious Jibejpty to the popish party, it may well be urged in reply, that this too was a necessity of the times, necessary in self-defence against men who were ever conspiring by nefarious means to overturn the religion and the liberty so dear to him and to his country— and who had the will, if they had but possessed power to devote all the protestantstomassslcre and assassination. To Knox, under God, we owe it to day, that we are free men of a free country-— to him we owe oiir religious, liberties. He, and those connected with him, counted not their lives dear to them that they might t-ecure to themselves and transmit to their children, the blessings of a pure fAith, and liberty to profess it. The struggle was continued from that day, and at difTerent periods, it^as involved the same great question, is God or man the ruler of the conscience ? We look awoss three hundred years to that memorable era m Scottish history, the first Parliament, and the first General Assembly, and we hail in these the first triumphs of the great spiritual and civil movement, which we call the reformation, and from that point onward, and along the next cen- tury, down to the glorious Revolution, we see how our stout fathers fought and won the battles. . The history of the Covenant does Bot come within the scope of our subjpct to-day, neither does the history of more recent events ; but as we thinH of many a well-fought battle-field— and mark how ^if; ■.,^'- ■ UWTED CHURCH AROHIVtS nes of the e evening, er of our especially fidence of B achieve- ISj whose try. But )rical vin- >m dearer heir race, the pub- il in great le highest served. 8 rude of ces under urtly and ith groat B King of her own le public robation ; he popish necessity vere ever 1 and the he will, if in assure day, that religious, their lives transmit :o profess rdifTerent ' man the years to nent, and triumphs call the next cen- >ur stout scope of t events ; lark how our native land is indented with the foot-prints of christian heroes —we would ascribe all the glofy to God who raised up such a race of men, and who gave to them, the victbry. A^^flummon you to Stand true and firm t(> your colours. Jj^.f^Gn g(»pel and a free church,- these art* our watch word«j theyhave come down to us a precious legacy from our godly forefa^ers. God has given us a banner to display on behalf of the truth.' To these pi-inciples let us cleave ; let us teach them diligently to our children. Insepa- rably a^isociatcd with the best and brightest periods in the history of our church and of our native land; not less insepaj?ably are they associated with all the best and brightesthopes of this dis- tanjt province, where we to-day sit under the shadow of Our vine and fig-tree, none daring to make us afraid. Christ king of saints, king of nations; Christ king of the church, and king of our affections^enthroned in our hearts, the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely! Uhese are ouf time-honored watchwords. ,/ - - ? B V ■' I •i ^ ■':'■.■- ■ ■ ■ ' ' ■ V'i a ' • • . \r ■ : ; ■■'..-..._ '.■■'■-.■ ■ ■ ■ . ■ ... ^ ■ - .■ . 1 ■ ■ ■ • 1 -.■■ ■ . ■"■,■.' - ■..;.: .■ * ■ . ' ■■" ■■ ': ;'■..;■■.-:;, t ■.■•••■" . . - ' ' t- lU(i J ■_,, .._^..,.J__, \ . ■ « ^ ■* THB DOCTRINES OF THE REFORMiTION. -•••' JnawABTt. !«/--»• ThM utth th« Lord.fUndye lo th«w«ra, MA MAiMd Uk Air tMMd paUu, where In the good way, Md walk (herein,- uid ye ihiai And rest for yourtovU." W« wiw this morning, how at a time when darkness ooverM the land, and gross darknera the people, God mercifully interposed andrais^ up men with power and disposition to examine the word of God for themselves, and with boldness to proolaim the resultot their searchings. * It was a time of general awakening ; one country after another, in Europie, rose up and asserted its independence of Rorne. Scotland, as We have seen', was not without her worthies and chairipions in this great and general struggle for emancipation. There were giants in those days, men of holy renown^who lifted up a testimpny for God and for truth, and when Scotland barkened to the call she rose up in the majesty of a strength that still commands our wonder, and threw off from her the, yoke of jpapal," Oppression. There was, priw to this, what was called the Scottish churo^ but it was bound ever to Rome, with all its tyranny j^nd superstition. ; Priestcraft and ignorance had blocked u^ the wiiiidows, and choked up the whole building with rubbish. Our reforming and covenanted fathers set themselves to the work of rembving the errors, clearing out the rubbish, and opening the windo'JtfS. Then the rich li^t of . heaven came streaming in, and there sprang from their labours a reformed clKarch, a church scriptural in acK^trine, and apostolic in government-\not a new church — we cli^m for pur church no modern birth, \ut the old church founded *Q(n the apostles and prophets, Jesus Ohrist himself being the chief corner stone. Here we reach t^e vei'y gist of the subject^ ^d come to the consideration of the^octrines of the Reformation\the doctrines of Christianity, in opposition to Roman oppressioi) and Papal innovation. At the very outstart, W «neet with the question ^ to the sufficiency of the Bible as a\ule of faith and practice,1md Uie right of all men to read the Bible for themselves. We proolaim, in the very fore.frbnt of this diBcussioiVthat the religion of our churcl the religion of the Bible.. We wishlo keep the memory, of the ScoV^ tish Reformers fresh as an evergreen ; but we m^aintain the religious principles which, through the divinex^lessing, they have^^ handed / ■"^ 14 -f:/' f; doWh'tb us, not because they were taught by them, but, because they are the principles of the scriptures of truth, and exhibit the only foun- dation of human hop«-^the («ily source of consolation— the only rule t(* regulate our conduct toward God and lOward men. Popery had subverted the Very foundations of the Church, by putting church authority in the room of scripture, and thus bring- ing conscience, of which God 'only is the Lord, into subjection to the caprice and tyranny of prelate or priest. The Keformers maintained, on the contrary that the Bible is the inspired standard of truth and duty, and that it should be open to all, God only being judge of the conscience. Fearle&sly they carried tliis, principle through the wide range of its applications. We, as Protestants, maintain the sufficiency of scripture in opposition to the papists, who still hold the blasphemous tenet that they are insuffioiept. In opposition to the papist, we maintain that every man ha* ft right to search the Bible for himself, and that children are to be taught to read that they may be able tO do so. We maintain, contrary to i^ Romanist, that the Apoct-yphal boolts are uncanonical, in many instances false, in some blasphemous. As to unwritten tra- ditions, M^hich they claim as of eauat authority with the Word of God, we reject their authorityCas impeaching the sufficiency of scripture, and as affording every facility, for the establishment of error, under the assumed sanction of God. ' . The Bible, the received standard of christian trul*, was imme- diately brought to bear upon the assertion and vindication of those radical truths which concern the salvation of man. Our fathers protested against the Romish doctrine of Justification by works. The Romish doctrine is that our inherent justice is the, formal cause of our justification. The council of Trent has pronounced that man accursed who should maintain that the grace by which we are justified is the sovereign power Of God alone^ or who should say that i^n are justified by the imputation of Chri^s righteous- ness alone, or only by the remission of sins. Oui^ JReformers maintained that such tenets are directly at variance with the very essence of Christianity, that we are justified freely by God's gl"aee, through faith, and not of works ; the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. It was this truth which brought peace to the heart of Martin Luther. It was the assertion of this truth that sti.rred the heart of all Europe. I It Was not a fresh revelation, but it was a fresh manifestation by the Spirit of God, through the Bible, .to the heart of one man, and through him to the hearts of thousands, that "God is love," that" God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on hin> should not perish, but have everlasting life." It was the assurance that the love which rules in heaven embraces us on every side. It was the fresh declaration to sinful man, that Gdd in .His Sovereign r i.i X 15 mse they nly foun- the only rd men. urch, by usbring- uhjection efoEmers standard ily being principle :)testants, s papists, tiept. In i a right )e taught contrary )nioal, (it ritten tra- Word of eiency of hment of M iinme- 1 of those r fathers ►y worlds, le, formal onounced which we hould say •ithteous- leformers the very d's grace, ernal iifev )f Martin the heart as a fresh le, -to the hoiisands, e gave his hould not a that the It was Sovereign ■ ■ love had given His Son to die, iind thus tw«pt away the barrier which'sin had raised between the sinner and the Holy One, that God is waiting to be gracious — that he is the just God while jjustifying the ungodly, becauRe the blood of Jesus Chri«t oleanseth from all sin. Christ, the revealer of the Father, the Mediator for man, who, by his glorious righteousness and vicareQjis aacrifioe, has secured the salvation of all who come to him. Christ, the free giver of grace, righteousness, and life. This is the living truth of God. Sin is a terrible reality. We are sinners — God loved us sinnerSj and gave his son to die for us. It is the Devil, and not God, who is against us *, we, sinners, are assailed by a real and personal enemy, who seeks our eternal destruction ; but we have a personal and a living friend in God himself, who became man to seek us when lost— wno died to save us when perishing. It Was this gospel which Hamilton,Wishart and Knox delighted to preach, and by which they ^tirred the very heart of the Scottish nation. It was this truth which gave wace to John Bunyan, as he read It in Luther's own words a hundrni years afler,Rnd it is this ^iie which can ^tusfreeto day; fresh living words of truth from the lips of Jesus himself, etornally new, aa fresh as when they wei'e spoken more than eighteen hundred years ago to the peasants and fiahermen of Gallilee and the publicans and sinners of Jerusa- lem,, _' ' '■■'■■. The <3octrines of the Reformalion were not merely negative assertions in opposition to Romish dogmas; nor were they simply logical statements even of positive doctrine. They were the living principles of God's truth ; the revealing of the divine purpose of sovereign love ; the revealing of the person of the eternal- Son, through whom that love was expressed to a illiful world. The one piritioiple on which this was, di^oe was, that nothing was to be re- ceived that could not be clearly traced to Divine Revelation ; that the Bible was to be received in all its teachings, and that words were to resume- their original Bible meaning. The aim was to bring into bold relief the old truths which had been overlaid or disfigured by Roman errors^to restore the Apbstolic doctrines to their purity and simplicity. The result was iiii no sense a new theory, but it was a new life, which brings men into direiot and devout dependence upon God ; which lays man in the dust, and places God on the throne ; which traces all to Gr'pd and finds all in God — " I^im first, Him last. Him midst, Him without end" — : which empties, the creature o'f all self- righteousness and fills hihl with the fulness of Christ, Causing him to rejoice in his very weak- nesii and misery, as constituting his strength and glory, binding his weakness by a golden link to the very strength of God. "[f his truth of the Divine Sovereignty alone meets , our deepest wants as sinners, our highest wants as Christiains. It so bears upon the wbole of human life and history, that without it the mys^ t 'i!» .-,..- '^^ 16 - ;■ torlM of m»n'# existence are involved in Inertrlcable oonfusloo Into this one truth of Divine Sovereignty all the living truth, of Christianity fit and harmonize, and to the devout nvind .t carries with it all the energy and power of a lof\y spirituality. Before th'w one doctrine, what a host of Romish error fell to the around— huiuao priesthood, saintly intercession, indulgonoes, meri- torious self-torture, there is no room for them In the gospel. Men calUng themselves |)riests, or saints, strangers to us, to inter- cede for us with Uiin, the great lover of souls, who beseeches us to be reconciled ; purchased indulgences to defend us from the anger of our Father: painful peonances, to wring forgiveness from him who died for us, that we might be justly forgiven ! Before the one message of love all these fall in pieces, like the stones of a fortress battered down by a single blow. What shall we say more in this point, for time would fail us to •peak of all the errors bearing more or less directly upon the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ-of the error ot .transubstantiation, affecting vitally the doctrine of Christ s humanity, as well as contradicting the graud gospel truth, that ChriBt has once offered himself to bear the sins ormpn— ot tne denial of the cup in the sacrament, when Christ said, drink ye all ot iW-ot the worship of images and relics-of pray ersjn an unknown tonaue— of fastings which have no authority in the Bible— of those impiously imagined deceiU whereby money is wrung from men for masses, on the pretence of delivering souls from purgatory a place which exist only in popish creeds and the fancies of papi8t»l-ot the distinction between venial and mortal sms, tine wire drawn subtleties, contrary to the scriptural definition ot sin, 'and calculated to luUmen's consciences to sleep, m the midst ot their crimes. y ' ' . ' . - These and mhKy other errors which We have not time even to enumerate, werf brought by our Reformers to the test of God s word, and dis^peared frorft the faith of the church Uke dreams when daylight comess . ^ „ ... i During the first twenty-two years of the Reformation struggle, from th? martyrdom of Patrick Hamilton^ in i528 to the over- throw of papal ascendancy, in 1560, the Reforbers were chiefly occupied in preaching and establishing the evJirJ^elical doctrine m opposition to the errors of/liome-but at this poTnt other questions naturally arose. Evangelical doctrines they ^ut first, as lying at the basis of all religion, these are necessary to the very existance of the church, but then comes the question, how 19 thtchurchto de governed ? under what authority Iby what laws r by what officers 1 That Christ has setup a viable kingdom of his own upon earth isoleaHv taueht 4p scripture. ,.«.;. We may contemplate the Church of Christ under two different aapecte— the invisible and the visible church-, but it is of the visi- m )nru9ioo. rutbii of t carrje* , ill to the j es, merl- \ y gospel. ' to inter- iies us to ho anger roin him ifore the nes of a fail us to upon the error of Christ's rUth, that 1— of the ye all of unknown -of those ing from urgatory, fancies of sins, fine on of sin, I midst of 5 even to of God's le dreams I struggle, » the over- jre chiefly loctrine in ■ questions as lying ' existance 'lurch to be A officers ? upon earth 3 different of the visi- '"'■'_.:.>.; IT . ble church that we now apeak, and our Confession of Faith define* It thus :— The visible church consists of all thos*^ throi)gho\it the world who profess the true rolittlon, togothi-r with their children, and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God. Unto this cathpllc visible church, Christ hath given the ministry, oracles and ordinances of God for the perfecting of the saints in this life to the end of the world, and doth by his own Erusence and spirit, according tp His promise, mak«i them eflTeotnal creunto. Of this society, founded expressly and itnmediatoly by Jesus Christ, He is the only Head, King and Lord. This our reforming fathers maintained alike against Papal and Eiastlan assumptions. The Scottish church while proclaiming her freedom from papal tyrany In common with d^er reformed churches, went a step further, and alone, or all but) alone, she from the first proclaimed that she could take no order In spiritual matters, from the civil" powers — next to the watchward of a free gospel, came the other, like unto It, a free assembly — that is the state hai* no right to any spiritual lordship over the church. She allowed that the state might for the national good, furnish the means of temporal support— but she would hear of no condition that gave the state a right to interfere with her in sacred thlng84 No one can under- stand Scottish church history who does not fully comprehend this doctrine — for this has been her testimony from age to age. Again and again, down to our own day she has fought the battle, and th* King of the church has ever been with her In the struggle for her freedom and Independence, which is her very >ife atid . liberty. . -.'-''^p^ The Church owns no throne but Christ's ; within the preciwcts of this kingdom, kings are but subjects, and here no acts of par- liament, no orders in council, no decisions of civil courts, carry the weight of a feather any more than a mandate of the Emperor of Russia, or a decision of the suprelfte court of the United Stages can carry any authority within the realm of Britain. In accordance with this we claim for the visible church a Divine constitution, to which nothing *nay be added, and from wliioh nothing may be taken. All the popes nnd princes, all the parlia- ments and councils that ever existed, have no power to alter it. The very thought of such interference is Sin, the act is blasphe- mous usurpation. Its laws as to doctrjne, discipline, worship and government, are laid down in the word of Grod, and no human authority inay dare to intermeddle. This is distinctly stated in the* first and second books of disctpline,and the sole authority claimed /or ' the platform of Presbyterian government, ^pre laid down, is that it is 6f Divine institution. These who arew^^art for the govern^ ment of the church, are not lords of .God's heritage, iwrt the servants of the church; and these powers are simply administrative, they do not make laws, but simply declare and administer tho ■ '■j>;^ ^ It l\ ■ It. Uwi which Christ bai made. Th« power of the civil magletrtte ti entirely dietinot from the church, lie has power over peraone and f)ropertieis libertioH and lives. The church i^xertn her power only D connection with nien*8 oonaoiencea. Ilia i« the power of the aword ; hers the power of truth — the swoni of the "pint. It is utterly diverse from ail other powers, and can never come into conflict with any other legitimate power whatever ; only when the state interferes with the civil and religious liberties, restraining men's rights, or constraining men's consciences, does the spiritual power of the chureh come into contact with it. Her power is the friend alike of civil order and of civil liberty,. opposed to all unrighteous pow^r. In temporal mattera christians are to render all obedience to the civil magistrate, but in all matters spiritual and sacred, w^ are (o be ruled by Ghriat, according to his word, and through the appointed ' goverum4nta of hia church. While our Scottish Reformers bore such teatimony aa we have here stated to Christ orown rights — not leaWiaithfully did they contend for the scriptural rights of the people to^ooae their own paatorsind elders as sacred and inalienable. The struggle for this has also come down even to our own day, and no man can read the history o^Hh|t period, without finding that in every conflict for the scriptural principles of our Presbyterian Church, we have nought to do, but to take up the old weapons which our fathers uaed, and rub off the rust of cges— -and to man once more the old rampart8,where they fought, and bled, and died, for their religion, their liberty, and t^ir oountry. We have but little time to look at results. Looking back over a distance of three hundred years, it is not easy to esttnfate the results aright, neither is it an easy thing to sum them up in a few ^words. The spiritual principle appears more pre-eminently in the Scottish Reformation, than in that of any other country. In this direction ita noblest triumphs were won. The evils from which it delivered ua were peculiarly great— and we unhesitatingly iiflirm that the changes it effected were more thorough going and more scriptural than in other lands. It was not the assertion of rights, or statement of doctrines, it was the lifting up of the oross of Christ, the preaching of a pure and free gospel, the -unveiling of the lOve of God, ^ Qhrist, "a light opened, which bheweth the true knowledge of God, of the means of salvation, of the iniquity of the deviPa kingdom." In this light, men saw their relation and reaponsibility to God, and the only realiiation of both in Christ Jeaus. The doctrines of grace were the grand means, while the spirit of God gave the' living impulse, both in origi- nating and earrying forward the moyement. We claim for the system of doctrine' and government then introduced, that it is the beet, simply because it is scriptural, and therefore fitted in the highest degree, to promote the intereata of praoti«al religion, and ,9. •/ \ . thfl gnnernl wulfiin) of men. Thia It Im oiirit Mcrcdiy to' pr«gerv«, uiiii widitly t«> M|irt'ii(l. W<^ ouii but rotiT to th«* ciilightctu'd X4>nl with whii>h our Iti'fnr- nr«rN Hiipporti'd tlio iiititr<'HtN of cdiiciition hikI l«*Nriiiti){, iitul the vHcct which thu at'hooU ami oullcgtrii huvu hud. upon thv nutiuii»l ch)i meter. Nor onn wp d«) tnoro than jilliidw to the wiiy In which th" civil and religious iiifluonocM of tho pt-riod iiitorHccti'd iitid inouldod one another. VVii hh fn-e n^n in a frto country cannot forget to ucliirH« l)utw««ii (Jodiiiul th« hiiiuftn noul cannrH b« poetical ; that. «v«n ilwi.kHgiviriK, though tho iiuwt joyful of all i<'ly «ffuHioni, b yot oonfiit^l to a fow modea, anJ la to b« felt rather than exprw-w-'il. Thuru la iofnething very fin« and true in this aontUnent^ but It \n true only In some caHoa, not In all. There are different mondn In which tho bi'liovnr aeoka communion with hl» «od, aonw ofthenearo awestruck and •p«ochleai» ; no poetry |Urf,lt»i«ua««^' - adequate to the adoration of tho aoul. 'J.Oo.uo kt»«»H expr«HaTO»^- •Ih'nce, nuiHo hi* pnilso." But there ard I.tber#>fct9^ had()ws then pass over the face of external nature— what shadows mottle then on the dinordored mind, and down the spirit plunges into darkness like a shot bird into the waters. Often men know not what power has fettered the spirit and darkened the earth to them, what fatal breath has extinguished h<»pe, and plunged the soul into the scowling blaekness of despondency ; but heiihh retiirus like a fresh vernal wind, or a sudden simbeam, and all existence is changed, and they awake as fro in a dismal and desperate dream— the agony is over, the soul starts afresh, as ** In lira'f moriiiDg mnreli, when our spirits were young. " ^'But some of you may feej that you arc called upon to thank God for sickness. It may be /that sickness has arrested your foot- steps.when you were going on in your sin, and brought you within view of ^e eternal WorH. Aflliction itself never turns the heart fVom.,8in to G )d, but sometimes Divine providence becomes the > inmirfter of Divine grace, fixing the soul on the truth which saves frotn condemnation and death, and the delightful issue is that the stutterer becomes a child and a servant of God, throftgh laith in Jesus Christ, having his fruit ♦unto holiness, and the end thereof everlasting life. If to any of yOu sickness has thus been sanctified, praise God for it. Th^ whole sub|pct of the; connection of health with religious experience is one of great importance. 4t is very humbling to think that a man may lose his hope in God, just because his physical frame is obstructed in its functions, yet let those thus afflicted remember that our salvation depends not on our own - frames or feelings, .but on the covenant of our God. The disease of the body may cause disease of the soul, yet, none the less let us trust m the mercy of the JV^efoiful. When the spiritual lamp flickers feebly m the dampy gloom, like an earthly lamp in a vaulted sepulchre, turn you to your God, for he hears your cry. ^Turn you to the oracles ofGod,whicbarenever dark,orif so,only dark with excessive light to eyes that cannot sustain the splertdoui-. Turn from sad and moody thoughts of yourself and behold the Lamb of God who tiiketh away the sin of the world. Open y<»ur Bible, and all th« spiritual world js bright as day. Seek the cornlbrts of the Holy Ghost, and in his glorious light, "thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright." / But with ail this we come back 4o the point at which we started, and say, thank God for health. A venerable elder came to me when I lay/ upon a sick-bed, years ago, to speak his homely tut ^ -'^'' ..S" c earnest words, and bid me boofgoodchedr. We spoke of aanctlfiei affliction, 'V\v«," he saidy' saiielifiod affliction is good, but sanctified health is fiir hotter"— and there was good philosophy and sound theolouy ill t-he remark. , . , Thank (iod fur homo. Home is the finest word in ourlanguage. The old lloiiiaiiW did not know the word, the French have no word like it. Pity the nations who have not the word or the man who has the word and does not know its meaning. What is home I More than one picture rises up before my mind in answer to the question. There is the pioUs patriarch, his children by his side, his children's children around hi« knees, he holds the well-worn B.bleup iKfore the ingle light, and bids all eyesand^all hearts look to GiHl— the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and ^as inspirr.r l.y life-long, life-deep convictions, he te|U them of that truth whi.h supports the roof-tree, that faith which sanctifies the lowly d«.liin.', that hope which lightens the hearth as with the liKht of Heaven itself, in a word of that religion of the cross which forms the link between heaven and earth, between helpleHsncss and omnipotence. As the patriarch speaks, every heart is filled witji humility and sell-abasement for its own unworthiness, with >J[<>nder aKdawe |or the greatness of God, with gratitude and love Jor his goodness, au(J Willi heart and vyice they join in the evening psalm : •;:*' The Lora's my Shcphcnl, I'll not wont, Ho iniikeS mo down to lio In pasture green, lie loadoth me The quiet waters by." This is home, you may transfer the picture if you like from the lowly cottage to the spacious hall, it is still the same ; only remember it is not the costly furniture or surrounding.acres that make the home, it is the hearts loved and loving. Where domestic tenderness is, there is home. '^ Tis home where'*/ tl>« l^cart is, Where'er the Ipved' ones dwell, ' In cities or in cottages, Throng'd hauntrfvor mossy doll. 'Tisbnghtwhero'V'the heart is, - It's loving power can bring V Fresh fpunta'as to tl^e wilderness, . .». And to the de8ortl8|>fiug. Tiiere a 'o green isles in each ocean, " ' i^.^^:..,: O'or which affectibn gUd,os, And a haven on each rugged shore. Where God's tlio star that guides. "TJa free where'er the heart is, Nor chain nor dungeon dim, ^^ Can check the mind's aspiring, \ The spirit's pealing hymiV. \ , ■*•: 84 ■ .\ . - ■ !*■ \ The heart girea life its beauty, Its glory and ita power, < 'Tib sunlight to the rippling stream, And soft dew to tho flower.'' . In home the troubled hpart finds comfort, the weary heart finds rest, the joyoiiii heart finds itself in its true element, "Home, sweet home! b«lt ever ayo, humble, there's no place like home !" Over some of your homes, great sort-ows have thrown their shadows ; but no chance, no change can destroy the blessedness of horne to those whose hearts are true as the needle to the pole. Aflliction brings forth home feelings never kno.wn before, and sanctifies every home tie. Death may spread his dark wings ovj yourhousehold, butstillyouhavH a home— a home in heavV' dearer td you than ever— ji home on earth, which is dearer ijj^Vinf^ for the very aflfiotion |jfjat lias bound you together in one coj^liiici ' sorrow, and drawn you tdgAther nearer to your God. Thafitln^/ then, you who are bereave* thank God for home, which thoii^h shadowed is not darkened by the angel of death. Would youbuild up a'Kome for tUe heart? See to it that ye, build within the precincts ^f the holy ground, and within hearing of the waters of life. See lo it that your home be a household of faith— let the Bible be tlje household book, let your home be sanctified by prayer, a picttire of heaven, and a foretaste of our Father's house. ' ' 2. Thank God for your Religious privileges." - Thiink God for the Bibld. Thank God that he has given to' ujs as a natioa the Bible in our|Dwn tongue. Compare the lands whe?e the Bible is ithe book of the people, with heathen or papil lands, and yon find that the former are vastly superior in all that is intellectually gi-eat, in philosophy, in science, in the grasp and stretch of human knowledge. But how amall a portion of tKe blessedness of the possession of the word of God does this include. fn this land to-day how many burdens are lightened, how many afilictions mitigated /by the promises of the Bible. How many men, in their struggles with poverty, gather strength and learn contentment by the prospect of the riches of eternity which it unfolds. Horn many mea who are the very strength and pillars of 8oci0ty, learn from the study of the sacped volume how to discharge the various dntjes of their stAtion. But to compute the blessings which the Bible brings, you must I'ememlber death and judgment,, and eternity, j^nd not until the en^ and issue of all shall , we be able to. reckon wjiJtt the Bible has done for ua as a people. Thank God. foithe unspealtable gift of his Son^for the- promise oftheSpirit, and the, presence of the Spirit. Thahk G«d that the truths of the Gospel are preached over the le*glh and breadth of the land, and pray .that He may breathe upon us that we may receive the Holy Glhost. \ ■ '■■/' \/ ■i^ ■;V 25 I served and dispensed from age to »g«' f "7 .t^Swe been to^ay / of the ChurchVi8ible,but wWe ^*>"^^^*^« ^"f^^l^t ZoA Without it\ What ;ould Britain have been Jg^wlmt^^^^^^ Canada be to^ay, had there "«J ^d ^"iJ^^a^ ^^^^^ haa foanded it, He has pr«8§r^ved it, ftnd to Httii.De an g jr ^"r i:^e the visibl. Chnrch Catl^ljc, but^ «nd1jon.ux our own Church not 0"^^;^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i- "4, -d 'sirea, but as bearing t^^"""°"j; J"y^. ,.^ we need i* the out^pouring he.rttTbrvr«!S.'ho.y J. t^. .h.n th* U,„g»« .p..k nf mercv and benevolence, as the giver of fruitful fewo"*^"" IrniSe "Thoti visitest the earth,and waterestit, thou gneatlj :^^U Wiethe river ofGod -^ieh is ^llof wate^^^^ parest them corn after t^ou hast so. provided^for iVthou wate^ii the ridges thereof abundantly, thou settlest the furrows tnereoi, tLS^stitsoftwithshowers thoubtessestth^^^^^^^^ thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and^thy pa^^ ,<»'^?P fatness Tey drop' upon the pastures of ^t'^ ^'^^^^^tU.? Juh Uttle hills reioice on every side, tHe pastures a.re clothed with nSs^SS^s^lso are^verk ovef with corn, they shout for ^'#:J;^ weU tk God for the land we live i", sorich ini^ 8oir«>Taried and abundant in its productions, so clear and whoe- ^meS cLate, so vast in its expanse, so nmgnificent in its Xs aSd rits. it is purs to devel^e tj-e .e^rcj-n^l^ rash speculations in an eager race after "<*«;' Y^^^^f?^^^^ earnest, and silent progress-a progress Pr?g«anJ ' J 'Jf '^' 7^^^^ must iniuence the destinies of a large portion of the human r«se 1 believe that it is our duty to develope these resources, rot only n thi L£le of agriciUural P""'^'^.^"^ ^.f ^anS^ menf of home manufaoturea, more especially m the manufacture M < "■' 'i :'--^.:- 'jii' ^ „ ■.^. «l erery- (wmmodity, the raw material of which i» ftimi»h«d br our lan^. In doing this, we are ad vaticing the true agri(;ultural interests of the land and the commercial interests of the worJd. We are exempted from all necessity of expending our resources in sfcuddinff our shorea and frontiers with fortresses and batterii's, we have- ho excnw for squandering them in barbaric pomp, or for pursuing tha path of warlike aitobition. Our territory is already lutoe enouffh for^n empire; we havd within that territocy .minerals almost mexhaustible in extent, forests of timber almbst unequalled in the world, which await the axe of ihe enterprising labourer, navigabl? lakes and rivers that are unrivalled, and other sources of wealth all affording to usi a guarantee of continued and pernVanent prosperity. But in order to, this result, we need first of all the . blessing of (^d as the only source of all good, and next the hearty • .earhpst labour of an educated, industriuiis, and religious people' In all this we must remember t<» cherish higher and nobler aims than the mere increase of wealth, a'nd 'the command over materiA enjoyments; we mqst keep our hearts evW open to the love of bocf, as our motive, to the glory of God, as our end ; we rnust livejiot for ourselves, but for the exterision.of the Gospel, for thj well-being of others. The glory of Canada and her great defence must be that her. people are a God-fearing people ; this only can achreve^reatness—this only can give permanence to our greatness; this only can make us grt^at, jjflorious, and free; thus >. only may we expect that the sunshine of heaven's choice blessinirs may rest upon her fields, and the mueic of contentment be heard 10 her honies, , Thank God for our government, laws, and institutions. That form of government under which we live is the -wisest and the best alike rei^oved from despotism and from anarchy, securing the i»fety.of the commonwealth without infringing the rights of the subject. God baa blfes^d us with one of the best sovereigns that ever sat upon a thronW; yet such is the nature of thUt government that Its stability depends as much upon the integrity and knowledge • *"' nn!' ^"^Jf i«,** "P«f the wisdom and virtue of the sovereign. V Ih^nk l^od fijT civil liberty. Uiiderno^vemment in theworld IS so large an amound of prs-mal liberty enjoyed in c nn^ction with so fill I, and equal a protection by j.ist laws. k w not only in personallibesty we rejoice, but in the fact that u save cannot tread our soil; he may be branded a^ adave up to ouc very - frontiers, but he has only to cross, the Niagara or Detroit rivers and he IS a free man. ♦' ' * '{J^J'^of 'or religious liberty. To secure to themselves and to heir children the right of worshippinrg-^God according to the dictates of their consciences, our reforming and covenanting fathers •foughtandbled; they planted religious institutions in' our native Jiandj- they have been in God»8 good providence transferred to this 7 \*<' ^.;■•■ If- 7 \*< land, and we «t un'ler their shadow to-day, and enjoy the fruit of the toil and suffering of our fathers. \y a In the midst of all these privileges, we cannot be cold and unsympathteing spectators of the struggles that are now going on in other p;»rts of the world. If we look to the South of Jiurope, we see there Italy making a gallant struggle to free itself from long oppression, and we watch with interest and with hope the, progress of the struggle, while every lover of freedom accords his sy mpathy to the Italian patriots, and other oppressed nationa^ies only await thehouroftheirsuccessto assert their God-given rights. Or when We looknearer home we watch with deepening interest ihejrogress of I events in the neighboring republic. It Hs been «iid that interests so different as those of the Southern and Northern States must ultimately bring about their separation., yQn the contrary, we believe that their interests are one, and save for the curse of slavery there is nothing to menace that union, and eyerythiog to cement and strengthen it. We hope in God that the friends of liberty will . stand fast in tills time of triumph, yet a time so pregnant in conse- i quences to the interests of humanity. We trust that the Republican party will not be swayed by the outiries of Southern secessionists or the entreaties of Northern men Who love gold more than they love liberty. May God keep them\ true to the cause of truth, righteousness and humanity. These s^avaJidWers and their friends cry but for law and order, and all the white they are trampling on the necks of their feUow-men, themselves the greatest violators of- both They claim the right to resist oppression and tyranny, while they themselves are of all oppressors the most c^pres^Ve, of afl tyrants the most tyrannical. Is it law and order to arre^f,a runaway >lave, and help tos^nd him to chains and ^stnpes and slavery 1 Is it not rather law and order to espouse the cause of weakness agaiflst tyrannous strength, to tak^ sides with a man ' oppressed, a brother wronged— to help him on to Freedom % is it tyranny and oppression to raise the voice of public opinion against the wrongs done in the prostituted name pf liberty— to assert and maintain that all men are free— and therefore ^ust because the African is a mart, he has a right to claim and to* wm his freedom. May God help the freemen oftheporth to stapd true atlhis critical period to the princiiples , of Personal Liberty and Free Territory, and keeping true to principle they may leave the issue with Him who rules and overrules all for his own glory, ^ The times in which we live are times of perplexity and of danger. The nationsoftheworldheaveand swelllike the w&yesofastormy ocean. May Britain, amid all, preserve her national liberties, her national greatness, her national renown, and raising her ocean washed cliffs and crags far above the surges, remain the beacon to guide the destinies of the struggling >jiationa in their_hopes ot freedom. It behoves us in this distiint province of the Empire to -s" :\ ' ! 5» :^ riBe up in the strength of the Lord, and give ourselves strenuously to every wftpfe thut may improve ihe physical, moral, and religious pt)ndition of the- people. What wo need is national and political integrity. Lfet us l^se the standard of public morals—let us if^^u*^ **'*" '"®" whom we raise to piwitious ol truist in the state that they be men honest in pyrpose, true to principle. Nb state has the element of perpetuity lifi it. that has not the religion of the Bible as Its basis ; take th.s out oi>ur land and you dry up the very^spiitigof national greatness and imtioqal progress— the true foundations of society would be uiklerminH.the bulwarks of liberty shaken, the springs of peace poisoned," "the... source of prosperity dried up. While then you thank God 'for youfimUynal blessings, see to it that ye hand them down unimpaired to yofir> children. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, he strong, gird yourselves for the defence and maintenance of those rights which your fathers secured to you; count your -religion dearer to you than substance, your liberty more to you than ea«e cleave to the Bible as the charter of your rights, the basis of your ireedom, the rule of your faith, the foundation of your hope. The seGurity of society, your property, your liberty, your rights in religion, depend on your fedolity as a nation to God. Finally, my brethren, have your hope and trust in God; let no earthly mterestsor subjects usurp the place of your conversion to Christ, your holiness, your eternal salvation. To-day we set up our banners, arid thankinfr God we take'courajic. We have- our homes, our country, our Church. May the ^oo. i w . , [ . i 11 m who dwelt m the bush abide upon tUem all. % ■\v ■/»■" • ARCHIVES ■ ■ ' ■■■ ■. . ■' ' '■ :' -■■--■ 1 PKINTED BY gii.lespy'& kubkktson, prince's SQUARE. f'--.